Hi Chicken!

WARNING: I'm about to brag about my kid. Shamelessly and in excess.

And by brag, I do mean the egregious, my-kid-is-smarter/cooler/funnier than your kid kind of bragging that just rubs everyone the wrong way. And understandably so!

If this bugs you, I get it. Honestly, I do. Please come back tomorrow and I'll try to make up for it.

I promise not to make a habit of it. Forgive me? Just this once?

Ok. You've been warned...

Oliver whined this morning. A lot.

I offered snacks. I offered toys. I was firm. I held my ground. I demanded that he use his big boy words.

"No More Whining!"

I said, to no avail.

After a while, I was done. So I did what any fantastic parent would do...I plopped him on his bed, opened the Dodo Bird app, and handed him the ipod.

Nice, right?

As I walked away I heard Oliver say, "Hi Chicken! Whas you doing, Chicken?"



The dodo bird repeated everything that Oliver said in its high pitched, dodo bird voice, Oliver laughed, and I sighed with relief.

"This should get me five minutes of quiet," I thought.

I sat down near Oliver, started budgeting, and listened. Oliver would chatter to the bird and the bird would chatter back the repition.

However, I quickly realized that Oliver wasn't just chattering. He was conversing.



He was presenting new topics for conversation, and he was responding to what he heard.

He introduced his stuffed animals and rubber ducks. He talked about letter sounds. He talked about the colors of items in the room. He sang songs, and then politely asked if they could sing again. He showed the bird pictures of his mommy and daddy. He talked about animal sounds. He counted to ten.

If the bird coughed (mimicking Oliver's cough) Oliver would ask if he was alright. If the bird laughed (mimicking Oliver's laugh) Ollie would say "Was that funny?" He complimented the bird and offered up a "Great Job, Chicken!" whenever the chicken did anything that Oliver thought to be remarkably impressive.

Whenever the screen of the ipod darkened, Oliver would bring it to me and ask me to find the chicken. Then he'd say "Hi Chicken! How are you?" and sit back on his bed, chattering away again.

This went on for over twenty minutes. That is not an exaggeration. I almost couldn't believe it. I mean, the child is barely two years old.

It was beyond fun to listen to Oliver carry on a conversation! When he talks to adults, he tends to wait to hear what they will talk about, and usually just repeats what they say, trying any new words on his tongue. In this case, it was all Oliver. It was like a glimpse into his brain. he was talking about the things he was thinking about and the things he noticed around himself. 

I was duly impressed!